René Pleven
René Pleven | |
|---|---|
Pleven in 1950 | |
| Prime Minister of France | |
| In office 11 August 1951 – 20 January 1952 | |
| President | Vincent Auriol |
| Preceded by | Henri Queuille |
| Succeeded by | Edgar Faure |
| In office 12 July 1950 – 10 March 1951 | |
| President | Vincent Auriol |
| Preceded by | Henri Queuille |
| Succeeded by | Henri Queuille |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 April 1901 Rennes |
| Died | 13 January 1993 (aged 91) Paris |
| Political party | UDSR |
René Jean Pleven (French: [ʁəne pləvɛ̃]; 15 April 1901 – 13 January 1993) was a notable political figure of the French Resistance and Fourth Republic. An early associate of Jean Monnet then member of the Free French led by Charles de Gaulle, he took a leading role in colonial and financial matters including the Gaullist takeover of French Equatorial Africa in 1940, the creation of the Caisse Centrale de la France Libre in 1941, the Brazzaville Conference in 1944, and the nationalization of the largest French banks in 1945.
In 1946, Pleven broke with De Gaulle and helped found the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (UDSR), a political party that was meant to be a successor to the wartime Resistance movement. He served as prime minister twice in the early 1950s and is remembered for the Pleven Plan for a European Defence Community, which he proposed in October 1950 in coordination with Monnet.